Body rubbing unit



Sept. 15, 1959 H. R. HACKNEY BODY RUBBING UNIT Filed Feb. 6, 1956 IN VENTOR HOWARD R.HHCKNEY AT TORNEY United States Patent BODY RUBBING UNIT Howard R. Hackney, Richmond, Calif.

Application February 6, 1956, Serial No. 563,592

Claims. (Cl. 128--67) The invention relates to a unit for scratching or scrubbing parts of a persons body by applying the body against the fixedly mounted unit.

Many people derive physical pleasure from the scratching of a portion of the body, and the difficulty in readily efiecting a satisfactory self-administered scratching of that portion of the back adjacent the shoulder blades which is not positively reachable for the application of a persons fingers thereat for scratching or scrubbing purposes is well known. In accordance with the present invention, a unit is provided for its relatively fixed mounting in a convenient location for the rubbing application of a persons body, and particularly the back, against it for rubbing the engaged body part to a degree determined by the rate and vigor of application of the body against the unit, and it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a body-rubbing unit which is particularly effective as a scratcher when the body, part is rubbed against it.

Another object is to provide a body-rubbing unit of the character described which is usable as a body-scrubbing element for body-cleansing, as well as scratching purposes.

A further object is to provide the unit with a means for mounting it in most convenient places for its uses.

An added object is to provide a unit of the character described which is usable for body-rubbing purposes when in either dry or damp or wet condition, as then generally comprising a toilet article.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some of which, with the foregoing, will be set forth or be apparent in the following description of a typical embodiment thereof, and in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a partly sectional edge view of a body-rubbing unit providing the features of interest.

Figure 2 is a partly sectional view taken at a supportengaging face of the unit.

Figure 3 is a section taken at the line 3-3 in Figure 1.

Figure 4 shows the unit as mounted for use on the back of a chair.

Figure 5 shows the unit as mounted for use on an upright wall face.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary view showing the unit as mounted at the sloping end of a bathtub.

As particularly illustrated, a body-rubbing unit 11 of my invention essentially comprises an elongated rectangular body or core 12 of preferably water-tight material which grippedly mounts a tubular body 13 of yielding and porous rubber or cellulosic foam or the like of a sponge structure providing a liquid-pervious friction face, and is arranged for a positioned installation thereof on a pair of suction cups 14 fixed to and extending from the body 12 at a common side thereof, whereby the unit may be readily mounted and held on smooth surfaces generally. As particularly shown, the cup portions 15 of the suction cups 14 extend axially from cylindrical stem portions 16 which have nuts 17 embedded therein "Ice and have threaded engagement with screws 18 extended )through the core 12 for clamping the cups 14 to the core. In the present structure, the body 13 is provided with holes which complementarily receive the stem portions 16 of the suction cups 14 whereby the adjacent body portion is more or less clamped between the core 12 and the back faces of the cup portions 15 by the action of the tightened screws 18.

Noting that the portion 19 of the body 13 which is to be contacted by a persons body in the use of a present unit is substantially only that provided at the opposite side of the support body 12 from the suction cups 14, it will be understood that the remainder of the present tubular body 13 is not generally essential and mightbe omitted; in the latter case, the portion 19 which provides a working face 20 might be unitarily glued or otherwise attached to the outer face and side edges of the block 12 as comprising a body-engaging pad. It is also to be noted that the material of the body 13, or at least the body-engaging portion or pad 19 thereof, preferably has a relatively coarse and stiff sponge structure which is absorbent of liquid through its working face 20 which, when dry or wet, has its working face 20 providing a desired degree of friction when rubbed by a body part; a polyurethane composition has been found particularly useful for providing a pad 19 for present purposes.

It will now be noted particularly that a present unit 11 is arranged for its relatively fixed mounting on various objects and in various positions for its use by the application of a body part against it. Thus, Figure 4 shows a unit 11 as attached by means of its suction cups 14 to the back 21 of a chair 22 on the seat 23 of which a person may be supported in a position which provides for the :scratching of the back by the working face 20 of the mounted unit by rubbing the back against said working :face. It will be understood that when a present unit 11 :is dry and is mounted on a chair back, or other con- :veniently located support, it may be directly engaged :by a users skin, or may be engaged through the clothing :to provide a massaging and/ or scratching action of the :engaged clothing part against the skin as the applied ;body portion is moved along the working face 19 of the ;unit with appropriate pressure. 1 A particularly useful mounting for a unit 11 is on a smooth upright surface 25 provided by a suitable sup- :port structure 26 (Figure 5), with the unit disposed at :any desired angle to the horizontal and at such a height, ,fOI instance, that a body portion of a standing person may be applied against its working face 20 in a rubbing :action which provides a desired effect. The surface 25 may be provided by, for instance, a room wall or a door ;or window casing, etc., and the mounted unit may then :be utilized in a dry condition, either directly or through :the clothing as a body-scratching means. On the other :hand, the upright support 26 might comprise a wall of :a stall shower or the like, in which case a person may use :the dry unit either for scratching purposes and/or for :applying a powder to the body. Furthermore, the unit :body 13 may contain a charge of a suitable cleansing liquid for effecting a wet scrubbing or cleaning of the :body part being applied against the working face 20 of :the unit. It is also to be understood that an initially :wet pad of a mounted unit 11 may be pressed more or less dry by the users hands for its subsequent re-Wet use as a rinsing means or its damp use as a wiping and/or scratching means with respect to the users body.

A further place where the present unit 11 may be used to advantage is indicated in Figure 6 which shows a present unit 11 mounted on the sloping end wall 31 of a bathtub 22; in this application, the unit may be alternatively used for body-scratching or body-scrubbing or body-massaging purposes by a person in the tub. Furthermore, still further body-engaging uses of a fixedly mounted present unit 11 may be made 'in accordance with the position of its mounting. Also, While the disclosed .suction -cupfl nounting means is preferable for {the installationsby .reason of the 'adjuis'tzibility l'fepositionin'g provided by it, itjwill bQilJldfirstDDd tha :m'ountingjmeansmight belprovidejd for. apmsent hody hgagin'g pad as coming "vvithinthelscope i my invention; p ;Fron'1kthe foregoing description taken in r connection vvith 'theaccompanyingdrawings,- the advantages of -the present body-engaging \unit will. be Qreadily understood bylthose. skilled in.the.art towhich the invention appertainsQ WIiiIev-I haveshown and describcdan'arrangement' ivhicnl now consider to be a preferred embodimentjo'f my-invention, ljdesi're toflhave it understoodfthat -showings are primarily illustrative, and ,that such and developments .may' be made, when desired, as fall vwithin .;.the .scope of; the" following claims:

.r L Inca body-rubbing unit oft'he: character described, asupp'orting. element of rigid structure providing a flat sidefface a relatively .thickpad of; resiliently yielding material unitarilyflcarr'ied by. saiduelement andproviding aucylindrically convex friction working fface .opposite said ,flatelementfacq and .means for adjustably. mount- .element on; a relatively fixed support to provide ferkthe, lrubbingv application of a .personsv ,bodyvv part againsttheqworking face of the, mounted-pad. -2. cA'hody-rubbing unit for the. usesde'scribed comprising-,a lwatenproofusupporting element of rigid structure andrnniform rectangular cross-section, 1a liquid-absorbent pa d of .spongefstructure fixed onsaid element and proaflcylindricallv convex friction Iworking face opposite a side face iofthesupporting element, and means for adjustably mounting the element on arclatively fixed Support to provide rforthe rubbingapplication of .a per- Iso'ms body' portion againstthe workingfface ofthe mounted pad.

, 3, vAIhack-scratching ,unit comprising ,a rigid lelongated supporting element of uniform cross-section providing a flat rectangular side face, a unifo'r'mtiibularpad of resiliently yielding material grippingly mounted on said element in circumferentially stretched enclosing relation thereto, and providing a cylindrically convex friction working face portion opposite said side face of the element, and means at the opposite side of the element from said Working-face of the pad for adjustably mounting the uniton; a relativelylfixed support to provide for the moving application of a persons back against the workingface ofthe-pad for scratching the applied back portion against it.

4. A body-rubbing unit of the character described comprising a laterallyclosed tubularhomogeneous element of stretchable sponge rubber or the like and of uniform cross-section therealong, an elongated backing member of uniform cross-section and rigid structure providing a flatrrectangularside face and g, rip pge(11y enclosed by said element to provide a, cylindrically:lconvexjvvorking face opposite said face of the backing member, andavaeuum cup means fixed .directly to; said hacking member.-and operative tosupportthe. vmember on ,a relatively; fixed support surface to disposesaid pad to ,face outwardly of h m n ing f ce to pro ei he ru b n ;a1=pl 'ti n of a b dyap r i o a-p n aeros le h ..work s faceof the mounted pad.

.5. Astructure in accordance withclaim 4 in-wvhich .7 ascrew bolt means secures the vacuum \cupmeansadirectly andreleasably to the backing member.

ReferencesrCited :in the file of 'thisspatent UNIT ED STATES PATENTS 

